In the first
two chapters, The Red Scarf Girl had already fascinated me. It isn’t like most
books young readers I know read at the moment. It is a change though is really
captivating.
On the very
first page, there was already a hyperbole. It was, “With my red scarf, the emblem of the Young
Pioneers, tied around my neck, and my heart bursting with joy, I achieved and
grew every day until that fateful year, 1966.” The hyperbole is, “... my heart
bursting with joy...”. Here, the author is adding extra drama,
communicating in a more efficient way than by using plain words. In the book,
this is showing how exciting Ji-li thought her life was, how grateful and happy
she was. By using the hyperbole, it is showing all the readers how full of joy
and life Ji-li really was.
Metaphor: "We
were proud of our precious red scarves, which, like the national flag, were
dyed red with the blood of our revolutionary martyrs." Here, Ji-li is
comparing the red scarves to the Chinese flag, red because of the blood of
their revolutionary martyrs. Ji-li seems to be very pleased with her country.
She is speaking as if she is proud about what has happened before and what is
happening now, showing us, she agrees with what is going on. I think the author
is trying to give us a more vivid idea enhancing
and making the image created in your mind more creative and
exciting.
Personification- "The wood groaned with the impact, and we all
cheered."This was when they started to take down the large, wooden sign
with Great Prosperity Market written in gold letters. Hit after hit after hit,
it still wouldn’t budge. They finally got to break it in half and the whole
crowd was filled with joy. The author is using personification to give their
writing life, and connect with the reader. Not only does it connect with the
readers, it also features certain things.
Metaphor: “I saw a pain in Dad’s eyes that I had never seen before”.
This part was when Ji-li had gotten home and told her parents about the
audition. She was so excited it pained her dad to tell her that she couldn’t
audition because of political conditions. The author is trying to show us how
hurt her father was because of what he needed to tell her. I think
the author is trying to give us a more effective understanding on what the father was feeling and has to deal with.
Symbol: “With my red scarf, the emblem of the Young Pioneers,
tied around my neck…”. Here is a symbol
I also found on the first page. Ji-li is already telling us something of
importance in China. The red of the scarf demonstrates the blood sacrificed by martyrs
of the Revolution. Since the scarf will probably be included throughout the
whole book, the author is already trying to show us what was very important
during those years.
Flor,
ReplyDeleteAll your questions are great. The one that I agree mostly in is the last one: "Will her opinion on her life change now because of everything changing?". I agree with your response on that question the most because that is what I think the whole book is about. As you said, she was having fun at first by destroying the signs, but her mood quickly changed when she saw what happened to the man in the tight pants and pointy shoes. I think like her perspective on her life will change very fast as we move along in the book. I infer that it will be very hard for her because it isn't what she is used to.
On the other hand, I don't quite understand what you meant in the first question. I may be interpreting this wrong, but are you trying to say that if the judges in the auditions(or anyone else) didn't care about her family's past, would she still be able to audition? If that's so, I totally agree with your answer that she would still audition. That because no one would care if she had a different background, or anything that could get in their way.